


The Joyous Dead

by MarionetteFtHJM



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anime divergence tho not the manga, Happy ending that they deserved, Hide and Kaneki deserved better, Hideneki if u squint, M/M, Oneshot, Some sad imagery, Tho idk i guess the manga was sort of happy but eh, nothing major, nothing too heavy, possible blood and gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 05:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16633742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarionetteFtHJM/pseuds/MarionetteFtHJM
Summary: Deviation from the canon, to make your story not a tragedy, it takes talent. But one must suffer for their art.





	The Joyous Dead

**Author's Note:**

> Idk this has been in my pc drafts for ages so i thought why not  
> I really wanna write some actual tg fics but yanno  
> Busy busy bee  
> Anyway canon divergence from anime season 2

He smelled him before he even saw him. The wonderful homey smell of friendship and lovingness that always radiated from within the human. But now, sadly, the smell was mixed with the stench of blood. Putrid, metallic, rich and  _delicio-_

The helicopters passing outside illuminated the room, basking it in bright light that revealed far too much. That was when he finally saw him, his friend, his home - his Hide _._

"Yo, Kaneki."

He was smiling, somewhat sadly, at the half ghoul. His features were soft and serene even though Kaneki heard the blood drip down to the floor from a wound somewhere on the other boy. His hair had grown out but his brown eyes stayed the same - full of love and admiration for his friend. Trusting even in the presence of a murderer, of certain dead. Of one of the horsemen, death's general.

Kaneki gasped and let out a small whimper, he quickly covered his left eye that had made itself known with a dizzying throb, sprouting veins and searing him to the core. If he were to look in the mirror right now, without a doubt there would be the black and red eye staring back at him, nasty and damning. He hated it so much. The pulsing veins and the blood red pupil, he still couldn't control it- even less now that the half kakuja was involved. His eyes had lost their hopeful doe-likeness a while ago, right after he lost all semblance of a normal life. Now they had adapted a look of dull ache that seemed to come from his very soul - or what was left of it. And now Hide will know. He'll see it in all it's gorey glory.

"I knew."

Kaneki was startled out of his own destructive observations by the other's voice. It was filled to the brim with sadness that seemed to have been mixed with a twisted kind of hope.

"Hide," Kaneki started but lost his voice and courage halfway through. He wanted to turn away, not to let the other see him this way. He needed to do something but he couldn't leave the boy all alone and bleeding in the middle of a warzone.

Another beam of light shone through the window. This time Kaneki saw the way Hide was clutching at his side, below his ribs. There was more blood splattering the floor now, and more blood still dripped.

"Yeah, I knew." Hide said and started to approach him, free hand outstretched as if he was talking to a spooked animal. Kaneki backed up despite the gentle tone.

"Hide, don't." He made an aborted motion to swat Hide's hand away when it reached near him but he couldn't bring himself to go through with it.

Hide gently pried his hand away from the monstrous red eye and put his own hand on Kaneki's cheek. He briefly frowned at his friend but smiled afterward, teeth stained with blood.

"I wanted to thank you, Kaneki, for saving my ass after Nishio beat the crap out of me." The boy said and Kaneki was left gaping at his friend, taken by surprise again.

"You-" Kaneki started but quickly closed his mouth and stared down at the floor. There was a crimson puddle gathered there, it was expanding quickly and evenly, Hide was losing too much blood.

"I was playing dead, thanks for going all out like that." Hide's warm hand was still caressing his cheek and he couldn't help but feel some of the tension leave his shoulders as he leaned into the touch.

Just as he started to relax, the hand was gone and clutching at the blond boy's wound. Hide let out a pained grunt and bent over.

"Hide-" Kaneki hurriedly shot forward to support his friend's frail form.

"Hah, guess I got a little careless out there." Hide groaned out with much difficulty, blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth.

"Kaneki, come on, let's go home." He smiled up at the white-haired teen.

Kaneki felt tears gather at the corners of his eyes, he felt them as they glided down his cheeks. They fell onto the barely alive blonde in his arms. He couldn't let Hide die; he wanted to protect him - all of them. He'd just wanted to do good in this twisted world, for his friends that were the only thing he had, the only family he's known, for the people in all the wards - both ghoig and human, ivestigator or civilian. He wanted to get stronger and yet he only managed to crumple and break, as fragile as glass. Brittle as dry bones.

"We're going home, Hide." Kaneki tried to stumble forward but as he did - he fell right back down. The sudden dizziness he felt was overwhelming, he could barely lift his head. His eye started to wander and convulse painfully. The tears falling from his left eye were red he noted, only half aware of what he was seeing.

There was warmth and there was light. The whole café was bathed in a red glow now; it hurt his eyes, they were too used to the darkness. He looked around through the haze that had invaded his senses. He could feel Hide's pulse slowing down, weakening with each passing moment.

He couldn't protect him; he couldn't even save him now. He knew an ending when he saw one; he's read enough books to know when a tragedy was nearing its end. This was the finale of his story, he only wished that he could have had the time to say goodbye to Touka and Hinami. He wished but wishes weren't granted to monsters like him.

The flames were getting closer as he sat there with a dying Hide in his lap. Tears fell freely from his eyes in rivulets; they landed on Hide's serene looking face. Was it finally over, are the credits going to start rolling?

He placed his forehead onto Hide's and closed his eyes; he felt the fire all around.

"I'm sorry Hide, I couldn't bring you home." He whispered and clutched the body in his arms tighter. "It's unfair, because you're my home. I'm always home when I'm with you."

"That's - it's okay, Ken. I was always happier at your place anyway. Because you were there." Hide mumbled out, barely discernable but Kaneki heard it clearly all the same.

Heard the ringing, the screams, the unbearable hunger in his gut gnawing at his insides. He curved himself over Hide's prone form to protect him from the flames. He felt his own skin burn and heal, rip and stitch back. But it was okay, h would suffer if it meant Hide would live.

* * *

Pain, there was a lot of pain. He blinked but he was unable to see. He ran a hand across his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision. But, to no avail - it was all still darkness.

After a few moments he let his hand fall and tried again.

He was in a white room, a hospital? He looked around and saw a chair with a book on it-  _Les Fleurs du mal_ , he noticed the  cursive writing. There must have been someone watching over him, somebody stupid enough to stick around.

On shaky legs he stood up and went to the window, he pulled back the curtains- light invaded his head and he shielded his eyes with his forearm momentarily. Looking around, he concluded that he was somewhere in the 2nd ward. Curiosity overcame the pain that came with moving. He was going to turn around and walk out the room when the sound of shattering glass startled him. He clutched the wall in order to steady his shaking legs.

"Kaneki!" Came a voice all too familiar.

He turned around as fast as his head would let him and gasped. "I thought-"

The owner of the voice came running to him, he ushered the boy in the flimsy hospital gown back to the bed.

"You shouldn't be standing, you just woke up!"

"I thought- you… what?" He looked at his friend,  _Hide,_ who was alive and smiling happily. Not a scratch on him.

"Kaneki what do you remember?" Hide asked with a concerned frown.

"I thought you- we- were dead?!" He pulled his friend into a tight hug and sobbed into his shoulder. Breathed his comforting scent in deeply.

"Nah, Kaneki, we're okay." Hide hugged him back and stroked his white hair comfortingly.

"But how?" Kaneki's voice was muffled by his friend's shoulder and the soft fabric of his hoodie.

"As far as I know, they took pity on us. Dragged us from the burning building and transferred us to a hospital, you were out cold for almost a month and a half." Hide said. "They haven't really told me anything more than that."

"They who?" Kaneki looked at him suspiciously, unease roiling in his stomach.

"The CCG," Hide said with a tight-lipped smile.

He was about to complain, suggest they make a run for it when there was a knock on the door. A man with white hair and glasses wearing a long coat and carrying a briefcase walked in, no odoubt a dove, a solemn look on his face. The man shot a glance to the coffee mug that was in pieces on the floor before turning back to them.

Kaneki tensed up and hid behind Hide.

"Arima-san!" Hide exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Hideyoshi." The man stated with a curt nod.

"What are you doing here?" Hide pulled Kaneki closer to himself- assuming the worst but not showing it openly.

"I'm here to talk to you about the upcoming Quinx initiative." The man's glasses flashed in the early morning light. And Kaneki felt it, the shift in the air, the tragedy unravelling - the catharsis cleansing their souls and saving them from the hubris of the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on [twitter](https://twitter.com/bakugoner_)


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